The consumer protection statutes of every state
are currently under attack by a proposed model law that would effectively
eliminate the critical private enforcement provisions that give these laws
their power.The American Legislative
Exchange Council (ALEC) has produced a purported law reform vehicle that is
actually a wrecking ball to destroy one of the building blocks of consumer
protection, namely the private enforcement of state unfair and deceptive
practices acts. It does this by systematically weakening each and every
provision of these laws, such as lower burdens of proof, special damages, and
attorney’s fees, that were designed to provide consumers with access to justice
for small economic wrongs. This article examines the history and goals of the
state consumer protection statutes, with their private enforcement mechanisms,
and then demonstrates how the ALEC model act would undermine these goals. The
article also critically examines certain research studies that claim to
demonstrate abuses of the current laws. The article concludes that while the statutes
in question could perhaps benefit from some limited reforms, the ALEC proposal
is an ill-conceived attempt to effectively repeal the private enforcement of
state consumer protection statutes.

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